Murphy v. Smallridge
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
468 S.E.2d 167 (1996)
After their lease became a periodic tenancy, the Murphys (plaintiffs) repeatedly complained to their landlords, the Smallridges (defendants), about trash the Smallridges dumped in the yard, and eventually anonymously reported the dumping to the state Department of Natural Resources, which investigated and told the Smallridges the dumping was illegal. The very next day, the Smallridges informed the Murphys their lease would be terminated, then offered to let them stay only if they paid a $150 rent increase; the Murphys instead moved out and sued for retaliatory eviction, but the trial court dismissed the suit, holding retaliatory eviction could only be raised as a defense by a tenant who stayed and faced an eviction action, not as an affirmative claim by a tenant who had already left.
Whether a residential tenant may bring an affirmative cause of action for retaliatory eviction when the landlord's conduct retaliates against the tenant's exercise of a right incidental to the tenancy.